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Markus felt nervous as he finished arranging the last of two dozen roses in a vase.
Nervous was new for him. He wasn’t used to it in the slightest. He was usually reasonably sure of himself. But when it came down to this…
Really he was just afraid that Simon wouldn’t like it. Not that Simon had ever given him any cause to think that he wouldn’t, but it was definitely something major. He wasn’t sure if he was crossing a line or not.
The human traditions were new to him too. There were a lot of them they couldn’t participate in by virtue of what they were—the elaborate meals, the chocolates, the champagne. But flowers and candles—those he could do, and he even found that his artistic flair extended to arranging blooms in vases. In the end, he was happy with the result. He scattered a handful of loose petals on the floor, laying a trail that led toward the bed.
Markus placed the present on top of the duvet; an unassuming rectangular box wrapped in gold paper and tied with a silk bow. He was probably overdoing it, but he didn’t really care. Simon deserved the best, after all. And as he stepped back to look at the product of his afternoon’s work, he was pleased. The whole thing had turned out infinitely better than he’d expected. The apartment looked like something out of the old romantic movies Carl used to watch from time to time. Hopefully Simon would like it.
All that remained was getting him there. Markus dressed in a green sweater he knew was one of Simon’s favorites on him, dark jeans, and a blazer. He wound a patterned scarf around his neck and glanced at himself in the mirror.
Good enough. He grabbed his keys and headed for the door.
~~~~~~
The evening had gone well so far. Simon had met Markus at a new art installation Markus had been excited about, a retrospective on dadaism or something along those lines. Simon didn’t know much about art; he just knew that he liked Markus’s. He was more than content to simply watch Markus’s face light up as he examined a piece he particularly liked, or to listen to him explain what exactly it was that made each painting so wonderful. There were layers of analysis there that he couldn’t hope to comprehend. But it made him happy that Markus wanted to share these things with him. Simon loved being a part of his world.
When the gallery closed, they walked together through the frigid February air under the dazzling glow of the lights downtown. Markus held tight to Simon’s hand, their fingers interlaced. Simon’s face felt hot, though this was hardly the first time they’d held hands. Moments like these reminded him of just how far they’d come since the early days of the revolution. A year ago, none of this would have been possible.
And yet here they were, hand in hand and walking out in public with neither LED nor uniform, blending in seamlessly with the scattered humans sharing the sidewalk with them. Simon’s heart felt like it would burst. He’d never known he could love someone so much.
They stood together on the metro, Markus holding onto the upright bar and Simon with his arm around Markus’s waist. When the only other occupant of their car exited at the next stop, Markus grinned at Simon in a way that made his knees feel weak and cupped his face with one strong hand, pulling him into a deep, passionate kiss.
Simon melted into it, letting out a dreamy sigh. He was never going to get tired of this. Not in a year, not in ten, not in a hundred. He’d take as much of Markus as Markus would give him, for as long as he could have him.
They broke apart when the train reached their station, and Simon let Markus lead him the rest of the way to their apartment with an odd sort of anticipation in his gut. He waited breathlessly as Markus fitted his key into the door. He suspected that Markus had some kind of surprise for him—he’d been practically radiating nervousness and anticipation all night. Another android probably wouldn’t have picked up on it, but Simon was more in tune with Markus’s emotions than most people. It was hard for the other man to hide anything from him.
“Wait here for a second,” Markus said once they got inside, kissing Simon on the forehead and darting off toward their bedroom. Simon hung his coat on the hook and waited, bemused. He’d been right, then—there was some kind of surprise waiting. He smiled to himself and waited patiently for Markus to come back.
It took a few minutes, but the other man eventually returned with a mischievous grin on his face.
“Close your eyes, Simon.”
Simon complied, and felt Markus interlace his fingers gently with his. Markus led him to the bedroom, taking him by the shoulders and positioning him just so when they reached their destination.
“Okay, you can open them now.”
Simon actually gasped. The bedroom was barely recognizable. The room was softly lit by several flickering candles, and vases of meticulously-arranged flowers sat on every surface. There were petals scattered along the floor making a path to the bed, and more arranged in a heart shape on top of the duvet around a present wrapped in gold paper. Markus must have spent the entire day working on this.
“Markus, what is all this?”
“Human traditions.” Markus looked pleased with himself. “I thought we could try it out this year. Happy Valentine’s Day, Simon.”
Markus wrapped his arms around Simon and pulled him in for a kiss. Simon felt like his heart would burst. To have something like this, such concrete evidence that someone thought he was special, that he was worthy of being treated this way…it was impossible to describe. He tried to convey his gratitude to Markus without using words, though he wasn’t sure if it fully translated. It was hard sometimes, parsing emotion. Particularly when it was this strong.
“I…got you a present, too. It’s traditional, after all,” Markus said when they broke apart.
The nervousness was back. Simon raised an eyebrow. “Should I open it now?”
“Go ahead.” Markus bent down and picked up the golden box, handing it to Simon. He averted his eyes in an unusual display of shyness.
Simon turned the box over in his hands, wondering what could possibly be inside it that was could make Markus anxious this way. It was nicely wrapped, but otherwise unremarkable; a rectangular package about seven inches long and two inches wide. He raised an eyebrow as he slid off the bow and tore away the delicate paper.
Markus bit his lip and looked at Simon expectantly as Simon undid the flap on the box and opened it.
“Oh,” Simon gasped.
It was—and there really wasn’t any other way to say it—a dick. A modular enhancement designed specifically for android models that hadn’t been built with genitalia. It was a nice one, too. Slightly larger than average, with a bit of curve and smooth, almost velvety skin that matched Simon’s own fair tone perfectly. Markus must have spent a lot of time and money picking it out.
“I’m sorry if this is weird,” Markus said, rubbing the side of his head and still refusing to meet Simon’s gaze. “But I thought…y’know, since it’s Valentine’s day and everything…maybe you’d want to—?”
If Simon were human, he would have blushed all the way down to his toes. “Yes,” he mumbled, reaching down to grab Markus’s hand. “I…I think I’d like that.”
Markus finally looked up, and he was grinning. He cupped Simon’s jaw with his free hand and pulled him close, into a soft, deep kiss that slowly built in intensity until Simon felt like his legs might give out from under him. Simon slipped his hands under Markus’s sweater, letting his fingers roam over the freckled expanse of his chest. Markus pulled away from the kiss and pulled the sweater over his head, exposing himself to Simon, and then wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him close.
Simon could already feel the hardness of Markus’s cock through his jeans, heat emanating from the spot where Markus was pressed against his thigh. Simon sighed into the kiss as Markus’s hand came up to tangle in his golden hair, tugging at it just hard enough to make him gasp but not to hurt him. Markus bit Simon’s lip when he opened his mouth to gasp for air and then pressed a line of kisses down the underside of his jaw to his collarbone.
“As much as I like this sweater on you…” Markus trailed off and sucked at the place where Simon’s skin vanished under his shirt. “…It’s kind of in the way.”
Simon pulled the sweater over his head and let it fall carelessly to the ground as Markus’s strong hands deftly undid the buttons on the collared shirt he wore beneath it. He shivered slightly—not from the cold, but the anticipation.
“You’re so beautiful,” Markus murmured, running his hands down Simon’s chest and stomach to the waistband of his pants. Kneeling in front of him, he kissed the tender skin on Simon’s hipbone in a way that was beyond distracting.
Markus paused with his hands on Simon’s belt buckle. “Is this okay?”
Simon nodded breathlessly, struck by the sheer love and desire that radiated from Markus as the other man undid the front of his jeans and slid them carefully off. Though he was naked, he’d never felt less vulnerable. Markus made him feel safe, with every reverent touch of his hand and reassuring glance from his mismatched eyes. There was nowhere else in the world that Simon would rather be than exactly where he was right now.
Markus carefully picked up the gift box, which Simon had set aside on the duvet.
“May I?” he murmured against the smooth skin of Simon’s hip, his fingers squeezing Simon’s ass.
“Yes. Of course.”
Simon sat on the edge of the bed, leaning back on his elbows to give Markus room. Markus took the dick out of the box and kissed his way up the inside of Simon’s thigh slowly, letting the anticipation build, letting Simon get used to feeling him there. When he reached the junction of Simon’s leg and hip, he paused.
“Tell me if anything feels weird. We can stop whenever you want, okay?”
Simon nodded his consent, and Markus smiled. With deft fingers, he aligned the attachment with Simon and clicked it into place.
The influx of information was immediate as soon as Simon’s system finished updating the firmware. The sensation was beyond strange; aside from removing his LED and replacing a handful of damaged parts, Simon had never done anything to augment himself outside factory standard before. He’d never had a reason to.
It was odd, suddenly gaining an appendage this way. It was odd, suddenly being sensitive in places he’d never had before. It was odd, the way it seemed to respond to his thoughts. As Markus looked up at Simon through the fringe of his eyelashes, Simon felt himself stiffen.
“Oh,” he said simply, color rising to his face.
“It looks good on you.” Markus grinned, which only worsened the problem.
Simon’s skin was hot, tense, and aching to be touched.
“How do you stand this?” he asked, shifting his hips uncomfortably. It was uniquely foreign, this basal need for friction. He didn’t know what to do with himself.
“You get used to it.”
“Somehow I doubt that.” Simon shifted again, making a face of dismay.
“Besides, you have me to help.” Markus grinned devilishly, wrapping his fingers around Simon’s cock and stroking it lazily.
“Ah—” If Simon had thought he was distracted before, that was nothing compared to this. The pressure of Markus’s fingers on his skin, the light friction, the intense vulnerability of being touched in such a sensitive place by someone you loved so much—it caught him by surprise.
“Is that too much? Do you want me to stop?”
Simon shook his head. He wanted more, needed more—as much as Markus would give him.
“In that case…” Markus dipped his head down and pressed his lips to the base of Simon’s cock, lingering there for a second before licking his way up to the tip. Simon held his breath—not ideal, since he was almost certainly overheating, but he couldn’t help it.
Markus swirled his tongue around the head of Simon’s cock, and Simon’s vision swam. He tipped his head back and gasped, his hips involuntarily bucking up off the mattress. Pressing him back down with a firm hand on his thigh, Markus took Simon into his mouth, bobbing his head up and down as his tongue massaged the underside of his cock.
Simon wasn’t in control of his actions anymore. At some point his hands had come up to tangle in Markus’s hair, but given that there wasn’t much to grab onto he ended up just running his fingers over the fuzz that covered his head. Markus hummed in approval, which nearly sent Simon over the edge.
He pushed Markus back, his cock aching at the loss of his warm mouth. “I’m more than happy to continue this, but if you had any other plans…” he warned, fighting to catch his breath.
“I did.” Markus bit his lip, hesitating. “Are you sure you want to keep going? We don’t have to move so fast if you aren’t—”
“I’m sure,” Simon interrupted. “I want to feel you. Please.”
Markus flushed at that, and Simon reveled in the knowledge that he had actually made the other man blush. He’d never expected that. Markus wasn’t usually shy; quite the opposite, in fact. This was a side of him that only Simon ever got to see.
Markus stood, unbuttoning his own jeans and stepping out of them much more gracefully than Simon had gotten out of his own clothes. Simon’s eyes dragged over every inch of his freckled skin, wanting desperately to press his lips to each individual one. His cock was hard and flushed, a bead of fluid already gathering at the tip.
Markus bent over him, cupping his jaw with one hand and kissing him passionately as he lowered his weight down on top of Simon. A sigh of relief escaped Simon’s lips at the contact as Markus’s skin pressed against his. From the soft scratch of his stubble on Simon’s cheek to the hardness of Markus’s cock against his thigh, this was everything he’d wanted.
Markus kissed the corner of Simon’s jaw, dragging his lips up his neck to suck on his earlobe. “I want to see you ride me,” he breathed, the raw desire in his voice enough to send shivers down Simon’s spine.
Simon gasped, tipping his head back as he rutted up against Markus. Markus sucked at the sensitive flesh of his neck, eliciting a sound that Simon was sure he hadn’t consciously made.
Markus pressed one more kiss to his lips as he rolled off of Simon, lying next to him on the bed on his back. “Come here,” he growled.
Simon got to his knees, swinging a leg over Markus’s hips so that he was straddling the other man. Markus reached over and snatched a small bottle of lube from the bedside table, pouring a small amount into his hand and using it to coat his fingers and then his cock.
“Stop me if it feels like too much, okay?”
Simon nodded. One of Markus’s hands was on his ass, the other delicately circling his entrance with one finger. Simon held his breath as he slowly pressed inward, involuntarily reaching for his cock and stroking it as it throbbed in response.
“How does that feel? Can I add more?”
Simon nodded, rocking back against Markus’s hand as he added a second finger, and a moment later, a third. He let out a small moan, biting his lip as he continued to stroke his own cock with one hand. He’d had no idea it felt like this. He’d had Markus inside his head before, but this was different. Intimate in a completely new way.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes,” Simon gasped, trying to mask his disappointment as Markus’s fingers vanished.
Markus gripped him by the hips, adjusting his positioning before taking his own cock in hand and pressing it against Simon. Simon sank down on it slowly, letting out a moan at the way Markus filled him as the other man growled deep in his throat.
“How does that feel?” he asked when he was fully inside, clearly making an effort not to move too fast though it was obvious he wanted to.
“I—” Simon couldn’t put it into words. He could barely think. He fumbled blindly for Markus’s hand, interlacing their fingers.
A spark, a request, and then Markus was inside his head, feeling everything he felt. Simon felt him stiffen at the sudden influx of sensory data. Markus’s every thought, every shared sensation, was colored by love. Simon shuddered in pleasure, bringing the soft blue glow of their entwined hands up to his lips and pressing a kiss to Markus’s knuckle.
Markus thrust up into Simon, slowly, gently, and Simon couldn’t help but moan. He could feel everything from both angles, feel himself squeezing tight around Markus. His own cock throbbed in response and he rocked his hips back, sinking deeper onto him.
The other man took that as a cue to start moving in earnest, setting a slow but steady pace that sent waves of pleasure through both of them. One of Markus’s hands gripped Simon’s hip, using the leverage to achieve a better angle. The other was still clasped tightly in Simon’s, the white polymer of their interfacing fingers reflecting the flickering candlelight.
Simon pressed another kiss to Markus’s knuckle and then took one of Markus’s fingers into his mouth, sucking on it. He ran his tongue along the underside, meeting Markus’s eyes as he did so. The other man let out a groan, his body tensing under Simon.
“—fuck,” Markus thrust up harder into him, grazing a spot that make Simon gasp and completely lose focus on what he was doing.
“Do that again,” he all but pleaded, rocking back against Markus.
With a grin, Markus complied. Simon moaned, tension building in his body every time Markus thrust into him. He didn’t remember taking his cock in hand, but he was stroking himself in time with Markus’s thrusts. The tension continued to build with every thrust, with every loving thought from Markus, until his body was drawn tight as a bowstring. Simon’s legs trembled underneath him; he had trouble maintaining his pace as his thoughts were driven entirely to distraction by this man he loved more than anyone else taking him slowly apart.
Markus maintained the tempo even when Simon no longer could, thrusting up into him with long, deep strokes. It was too much, far too much—Simon’s chest face and chest were burning, his pump regulator struggling to compensate for the speed of his heart. He gasped, barely holding on.
“Look at me,” Markus whispered, and Simon’s blue eyes met his mismatched ones. Markus’s lips barely moved in time with his transmitted words—I love you.
Simon tumbled over the edge, gasping and shaking as he came. His own pleasure echoed back at him through Markus’s mind as he stroked his cock, cum spurting onto Markus’s stomach as his body squeezed rhythmically on Markus’s cock.
Markus’s thrusts increased in speed, in urgency, his thoughts growing more desperate with each passing second until he rutted up suddenly into Simon, his fingers digging hard into the flesh of Simon’s hips as he moaned.
The secondhand experience of Markus’s orgasm was nothing new to Simon, but he hadn’t been prepared for the aftershocks it sent through his own body when he was in this vulnerable state. He cried out, his face still burning with heat as he shuddered against Markus.
It took several minutes for him to collect himself enough to form any kind of coherent thought. He was vaguely aware of Markus gently disentangling his body from Simon’s, of Markus reaching into the bedside table for a washcloth and cleaning Simon’s cum from his stomach. He slid back into bed beside Simon a moment later, wrapping his arms around him and pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, lifting Simon’s chin with his fingers and peering at him with concern.
Simon nodded, still trying to focus on lowering his core temperature before he combusted. Markus frowned, his fingers pressing lightly to the place Simon’s LED used to be.
“Sometimes I miss them,” Markus murmured. Simon knew what he meant. It had been far easier to tell what exactly was wrong with each other before they’d shed their LEDs.
“I’m fine,” he said, reaching up for Markus’s hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I just wasn’t expecting it to be so…intense.”
“Was it worth it?” Markus bit his lip. “We don’t have to do it again, if you don’t—”
Simon silenced him with a kiss. “Yes, it was worth it.” He glanced away shyly. “Thank you, Markus. For the gift. I’m so sorry I didn’t have one for you.”
Markus smoothed Simon’s hair back from his face with a smile. “Being with you is the only present I need.”